GE Healthcare donates patient monitors to Aalto University

GE Healthcare donated four CARESCAPE B650 patient monitors to Aalto University.  The purpose of the donation is to provide bio-informatics students with practical experience of the health technology equipment used in hospitals.

The monitors were officially handed over during the opening ceremony of the Aalto University Health Technology House, which took place on Tuesday 14 March 2017 at 5pm.

‘We can utilise the monitors donated by GE Healthcare in many ways, both in teaching and in conducting research in areas such as haemodynamic brain imaging,’ said Aalto University Academy Research Fellow Ilkka Nissilä.

The use of the monitors in teaching will benefit the students, but it will also be of benefit to GE Healthcare, which employs many experts within the field.

‘Health technology accounts for the largest share of Finland’s high-tech exports and is a strongly expanding field throughout the developed world. During the last three years, GE Healthcare has employed in Helsinki around a hundred engineers for product development and product testing tasks. There is a constant need for more people with expertise in patient monitors, clinical parameters and human physiology,’ explains Engineering Manager Niko Nuotio from GE.

Patient monitors are complicated clinical instruments that do a lot more than simply showing information about the patient’s condition. In addition to measuring over 50 clinical parameters ranging from blood pressure and pulse to depth of anaesthetic and pain reactions caused by operations, monitors also communicate with information systems and send alarm data through the data network to be used by care staff.

‘Students who have practical experience in operating patient monitors are in demand. Less time is required for their work orientation and they are sooner able to work independently,’ Mr Nuotio points out.

‘Aalto University is one of the most important educational institutions in Finland for the training of experts in the health technology field. Finnish engineering expertise also played an important role in awakening GE’s interest in Instrumentarium,’ says Matti E. Lehtonen, Chairman of the Board for GE Healthcare Finland Oy.

GE Healthcare and Aalto University work a lot together in areas such as master’s and doctoral theses.  In the future, the goal is to further expand cooperation, especially in the areas of data analytics and machine learning.

Further information and requests for interview:

Terhi Kajaste, Corporate Relations Advisor, Aalto University, +358 (0)50 327 52 99, terhi.kajaste@aalto.fi

Taija Reijonen, Senior Communications Leader, GE, tel. +358 (0)50 367 58 63, taija.sievanen@ge.com

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